Tropic Of Cancer is not so sad

Let oceans of emotion wash over you at Tropic Of Cancer’s show

"I'm wearing all white right now" Camella Lobo says with a laugh. "I don't know what that means!" While a pale wardrobe might not seem particularly puzzling to some, for Lobo, the brains beind Tropic Of Cancer, it does seem to pose a bit of a quandary. Tropic Of Cancer's haunting, synth-laden output over the last seven years has often been described as "goth-pop" by many interviewers and reviewers, and while Lobo certainly doesn't shy away from the label, it doesn't always feel like a truly accurate representation of her work or her life. "I'm a generally happy person," she insists. "But there is this core of impenetrable sadness that comes out in my music."

The project that began as a collaboration with then-partner Juan Mendez has evolved immensely since its inception in 2007. Lobo had very little experience creating her own music at that point, and was happy to "kind of learn within his structure" of foundational elements. When Mendez left the band to pursue other projects in 2009, Lobo continued to develop Tropic Of Cancer as her solo project, with DVA DAMAS' Taylor Burch filling out the sound in live performances. Her latest release, 2013's Restless Idylls, is her first full length album, and represents "a culmination of all those years of struggling, of not only who I was within the music but also taking it over and all the changes in my life."

These deeply personal expressions, funneled through hypnotic and moving soundscapes are incredibly important to Lobo's creative process, and something that audiences connect with in a way that's gratifying both to the listener and the artist.

"I like it to be the same for them that it is for me. When I make music I find it really comforting and really cathartic and its this place that I go to that there are no boundaries of emotion," she says. "People are connecting to the music, and when that stops happening, that's when I'll probably stop making sad music."